Optical Disc Writer and Method of Writing Label onto Optical Disc

ABSTRACT

An optical disc writer includes an optical pickup head and a supporting portion for supporting an optical disc having a central hole, an annular label zone and an annular control feature zone located therebetween. The optical pickup head includes a red light source, a blue light source, a red lens and a blue lens. The red light source emits a red laser beam penetrating through the red lens to write a label onto the annular label zone. The blue light source emits a blue laser beam penetrating through the blue lens, which is disposed between the central hole and the red lens, and travelling to the annular control feature zone. Thus, the optical pickup head reads information of the annular control feature zone and the red lens is moved to the annular label zone according to the information in order to write the label onto the corresponding annular label zone.

This application claims the benefit of People's Republic of China application Serial No. 200810004952.5, filed Jan. 31, 2008, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The invention relates in general to an optical disc writer and a method of writing a label onto an optical disc, and more particularly to an optical disc writer having a blue laser beam and a blue lens for obtaining information of an annular control feature zone and thus calibrating a position of a red lens over an annular label zone, and a method of writing a label onto an optical disc.

2. Description of the Related Art

LightScribe technology is for writing a label pattern onto a surface of a LightScribe optical disc on which a special coated layer is formed so that a user can directly identify contents of the optical disc according to the label pattern. Before writing the label pattern onto the optical disc, an optical pickup head needs to read information in a control feature zone of the optical disc so that an optical drive obtains the information of the optical disc and can thus correctly write the label onto the optical disc.

The optical disc writer, which has two or more than two lenses in the market, cannot smoothly read the information of the control feature zone of the optical disc due to the arranged positions of the lenses. In an optical drive having a blue laser and a red laser, for example, the position of the blue lens is usually configured to be close to the center of the optical disc, while the position of the red lens is usually configured to be away from the center of the optical disc. The position of the blue lens is arranged such that the blue laser can just read the barcode in a burst cutting area (BCA) of the optical disc, and the barcode functions to verify the optical disc to prevent the disc from being copied.

However, such a design disables the red laser from reading the media ID of the optical disc on the inner ring of the disc and the calibration information (saw-tooth calibration) of the optical disc through the red lens. The media ID of the optical disc has the information of the optical disc, such as the name of the manufacturer, the media type of the optical disc, the supported writing speed, and the like. The calibration information is for calibrating the position of the optical pickup head. Consequently, the optical disc writer cannot obtain the information of the optical disc so that the optical drive cannot work normally to write the label onto the optical disc.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is directed to an optical disc writer and a method of writing a label onto an optical disc, wherein a blue laser beam penetrates through a blue lens to obtain information of an annular control feature zone and thus to calibrate a position of a red lens in an annular label zone in order to write the label onto a surface of the optical disc.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, an optical disc writer including a supporting portion and an optical pickup head is provided. The supporting portion is used for supporting an optical disc. The optical disc has a central hole, an annular control feature zone and an annular label zone. The annular control feature zone is located between the central hole and the annular label zone. The optical pickup head includes a red light source, a blue light source, a red lens and a blue lens. The red light source is used for emitting a red laser beam. The red laser beam penetrates through the red lens to write a label onto the annular label zone. The blue light source is used for emitting a blue laser beam. The blue lens is disposed between the central hole and the red lens. The blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens and travels to the annular control feature zone such that the optical pickup head reads information of the annular control feature zone. The red lens is moved to the annular label zone according to the information of the control feature zone in order to write the label onto the corresponding annular label zone.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a method of writing a label onto an optical disc is provided. The method includes the following steps. First, an optical disc, which has a central hole, an annular label zone and an annular control feature zone located between the central hole and the annular label zone, is provided. Next, a blue laser beam penetrating through a blue lens and travelling to the annular control feature zone is provided to read information of the annular control feature zone. Then, a red laser beam penetrating through a red lens is provided to write a label onto the annular label zone. The red lens is moved to the annular label zone according to the information of the control feature zone in order to write the label.

The invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic illustration showing an optical disc writer according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along a line 1A-1A′ of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a top view showing an optical disc and an optical pickup head of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the optical disc with labels.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a method of writing a label onto the optical disc according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic illustration showing an optical disc writer 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view taken along a line 1A-1A′ of FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a top view showing an optical disc 150 and an optical pickup head 120 of FIG. 1. For the sake of clear illustration, some elements are omitted from FIGS. 1 and 2, and the omitted elements are used in the conventional optical drive, so detailed descriptions thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 3, the optical disc and the optical pickup head are flipped over.

As shown in FIG. 1, the optical disc writer 100 for writing a label onto a surface of the LightScribe optical disc 150 includes a supporting portion 110 and the optical pickup head 120. The supporting portion 110 supports the optical disc 150. The optical disc 150 has a central hole 151, an annular control feature zone 152 and an annular label zone 153. The annular control feature zone 152 is located between the central hole 151 and the annular label zone 153. The annular label zone 153 has a special coated layer such that the label can be written thereon.

Referring to FIG. 1, the optical disc writer 100 further includes a supporting seat 160, two guiding rods 130 and a spindle motor 140. The supporting seat 160 supports the optical pickup head 120 to move along the guiding rods 130 in a radial direction of the optical disc 150. The spindle motor 140 drives the supporting portion 110 to rotate so that the optical disc 150 can be rotated.

Referring to FIG. 2, the optical pickup head 120 includes a red light source 121, a red lens 122, a blue light source 123 and a blue lens 124. As shown in FIG. 3, the blue lens 124 is located between the central hole 151 and the red lens 122. The blue lens 124 and the red lens 122 are moved with a constant distance being kept therebetween. The red light source 121 emits a red laser beam RL, which penetrates through the red lens 122 to write the label onto the annular label zone 153, as shown in FIG. 2. The blue light source 123 emits a blue laser beam BL. The blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the annular control feature zone 152 such that the optical pickup head 120 can read the information of the annular control feature zone 152.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the optical disc 150 with labels 153 a. Referring to FIG. 4, the control feature zone 152 of the optical disc 150 includes an inner ring zone 154 and an outer ring zone 156. The inner ring zone 154 has the information for controlling the optical disc 150 to rotate. The outer ring zone 156 includes an index mark 156 a, a media identification (Media ID) zone 156 b and a saw-tooth calibration zone 156 c.

The index mark 156 a marks a starting position of the outer ring zone 156. The blue laser beam BL depicted in FIG. 2 penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the index mark 156 a so that the optical pickup head 120 obtains the starting position of the outer ring zone 156.

The media ID zone 156 b records the information of the optical disc 150, such as the name of the manufacturer, the media type, the supported writing speed and other information before the label is written onto the optical disc. After the optical pickup head 120 obtains the starting position of the outer ring zone 156, the blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the media ID zone 156 b such that the optical pickup head 120 obtains the required information of the optical disc to complete a ready state.

The saw-tooth calibration zone 156 c records the calibration information (saw-tooth calibration) of the radial moving distance of the optical pickup head 120 over the optical disc. After the optical pickup head 120 has completed the ready state, the blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the saw-tooth calibration zone 156 c to obtain the calibration information. The blue lens 124 and the red lens 122 are finely moved according to the calibration information in order to perform the calibration procedure.

Furthermore, the blue lens 124 and the red lens 122 of the optical disc writer 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the invention are driven by the same coil (not shown). Thus, when the blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 to perform the calibration procedure, its calibrated result may also be used by the red lens 122. Therefore, the prior art problem that the red laser beam of the optical drive cannot read the disc media ID and the saw-tooth calibration of the inner ring of the optical disc does not occur. Consequently, the optical disc writer 100 according to the preferred embodiment of the invention may be applied to the available optical disc writer having two or more than two lenses.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart showing a method of writing a label onto the optical disc according to the preferred embodiment of the invention.

First, the optical disc 150 is provided in step S510, wherein the optical disc writer 100 may write the label onto the optical disc 150.

Next, in step S520, the blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the index mark 156 a of the outer ring zone 156 in the annular control feature zone 152 to obtain the starting position of the outer ring zone 156.

Then, in step S530, the blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the media ID zone 156 b of the outer ring zone 156 to obtain the required information of the optical disc and to complete the ready state.

Furthermore, in step S540, the blue laser beam BL penetrates through the blue lens 124 and travels to the saw-tooth calibration zone 156 c of the outer ring zone 156 to obtain the calibration information and perform the calibration procedure.

Next, in step S550, the red laser beam RL penetrates through the red lens 122 to write the label onto the label zone 153.

The optical disc writer and the method of writing the label onto the optical disc according to the embodiment of the invention have the following features. First, the blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens to obtain the information of the annular control feature zone. Next, the red laser beam writes the label onto the surface of the optical disc according to the calibration information recorded in the annular control feature zone. After the starting position and the information of the optical disc in the outer ring zone of the annular control feature zone are obtained, the blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens to obtain the calibration information. The red lens is moved to the annular label zone according to the calibration information obtained by the blue laser beam in order to write the label onto the corresponding annular label zone. Consequently, the optical disc writer and the method according to the embodiment of the invention are compatible with the available optical disc writer having two or more than two lenses.

While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of a preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures. 

1. An optical disc writer, comprising: a supporting portion for supporting an optical disc having a central hole, an annular control feature zone and an annular label zone, the annular control feature zone being located between the central hole and the annular label zone; and an optical pickup head, comprising: a red light source for emitting a red laser beam; a blue light source for emitting a blue laser beam; a red lens, wherein the red laser beam penetrates through the red lens to write a label onto the annular label zone; and a blue lens disposed between the central hole and the red lens; wherein the blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens and travels to the annular control feature zone such that the optical pickup head reads information of the annular control feature zone and thus calibrates a position of the red lens in order to write the label onto the corresponding annular label zone.
 2. The optical disc writer according to claim 1, wherein the annular control feature zone has an outer ring zone, the outer ring zone has an index mark, and the blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens and travels to the index mark such that the optical pickup head obtains a starting position of the outer ring zone.
 3. The optical disc writer according to claim 2, wherein the outer ring zone has a media identification (Media ID) zone, and the blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens and travels to the media ID zone such that the optical pickup head obtains required information of the optical disc after the optical pickup head obtains the starting position of the outer ring zone.
 4. The optical disc writer according to claim 3, wherein the outer ring zone has a saw-tooth calibration zone, the blue laser beam penetrates through the blue lens and travels to the saw-tooth calibration zone to obtain calibration information after the optical pickup head reads the media ID zone, and the blue lens and the red lens are moved according to the calibration information such that the optical pickup head performs a calibration procedure.
 5. The optical disc writer according to claim 1, wherein the blue lens and the red lens are driven by one coil.
 6. A method of writing a label onto an optical disc, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing an optical disc, which has a central hole, an annular label zone and an annular control feature zone located between the central hole and the annular label zone; (b) providing a blue laser beam penetrating through a blue lens and travelling to the annular control feature zone to read information of the annular control feature zone; and (c) providing a red laser beam penetrating through a red lens to write the label onto the annular label zone, wherein the red lens is moved in the annular label zone according to the information of the control feature zone in order to write the label.
 7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the annular control feature zone has an outer ring zone having an index mark, and the step (b) comprises: (b1) providing the blue laser beam penetrating through the blue lens and travelling to the index mark to obtain a starting position of the outer ring zone.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the step (b) further comprises: (b2) providing the blue laser beam penetrating through the blue lens and travelling to a media ID zone of the outer ring zone after obtaining the starting position of the outer ring zone in order to obtain information of the optical disc.
 9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the step (b) further comprises: (b3) providing the blue laser beam penetrating through the blue lens and travelling to a saw-tooth calibration zone of the outer ring zone to perform a calibration procedure after obtaining the information of the optical disc.
 10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the blue lens and the red lens are driven by one coil. 